R E V I E W P A N E LMatt Wellslager, Chair

Scott Perkins, Vice Chair

May 2, 2014

Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D.Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and AtmosphereNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)U.S. Department of Commerce1401 Constitution Avenue, NWRoom 6217Washington, DC 20230

Dear Dr. Sullivan:

The Hydrographic Services Review Panel is pleased to report on our semiannual federal advisorycommittee meeting held on February 25-26, 2014, in New York City. This letter includes bothsummary information as well as the resulting panel recommendations.

Dr. Holly Bamford swore in the newly appointed member, Mr. Ed Kelly, as were three othermembers you reappointed in January 2014: Dr. Lawson Brigham, Mr. William Hanson, and Mr.Scott Perkins. Mr. Stephen Carmel, whom you also reappointed, had to resign from the Paneldue to work responsibilities at Maersk Line Limited. I understand that Rear Admiral Gerd Glangwill submit a call for panel membership this summer to fill vacant seats on the panel.Importantly, we also want to advise you of a change in chairmanship on the panel. I steppeddown as Chair due to my new work responsibilities. The panel elected Mr. Scott Perkins toserve as the Chair and Mr. Bill Hanson to serve as the Vice Chair.

We chose to meet in New York because of how heavily impacted the region was by SuperstormSandy, and how heavily NOAA's navigation services and products were relied upon before,during and after this event. The panel sought to directly engage with those who use NOAAnavigation services for safe navigation and coastal resilience. By meeting in the region we werebest able to engage the widest possible set of stakeholders to examine how NOAA navigationproducts and services were used during Sandy and how they might be improved for futureemergencies.

Of particular note, the panel held breakout sessions focused on three themes: Integrating FederalEmergency Response for Coastal Resilience, Updated Nautical Charting and Consistency inStandards, and Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) Modeling and Resilience.During these breakouts, the panel was able to further define issues and challenges, as well as todevelop the following actionable recommendations for NOAA to consider.

Integrated Federal Emergency Response for Coastal Resilience: The panel recommends that:

• NOAA establish detailed Pre-scripted Mission Assignments (PSMA) with FEMA, inadvance of natural disasters and other emergencies. PSMA's will help formalizeNOAA's roles in the National Response Framework and assist integration of NOAAassets into response Incident Command Centers. Additionally, outside of oil spillresponse, NOAA is rarely reimbursed for the support provided in the wake ofemergencies. PSMAs provide a vehicle for reimbursement that reduces the impactresponse operations have on appropriated funds and planned mission work.

Updated Nautical Charting & Consistency in Standards: The panel recommends that:

• The Office of Coast Survey accelerate transition to a database-driven workflow forNOAA's Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) to produce charts in a modern andefficient way. Legacy production methods and software dictate that the application ofnew data to nautical charts must follow a raster-to-ENC progression. A database-drivenmodel would ingest new data to generate vector ENCs, from which raster and papercharts and other products can be generated.

• Coast Survey coordinate with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE) to develop anefficient mechanism for USAGE channel surveys to enhance safety of navigation infederally maintained channels. The generation of "channel tabulations" on nauticalcharts is time consuming and needs to be made more efficient.

IOCMModeling & Resilience: The panel recommends that:

• NOAA prioritize IOCM activities and support with top-down emphasis, includingfunding specifically for IOCM projects and making IOCM an element in performanceplans for appropriate management personnel.

• NOAA also expand working agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MOU);streamline and simplify procedures for other agencies to establish agreements withNOAA, especially for small regional and local mapping projects in order to leveragemapping funds for the greatest utility.

• NOAA improve on existing IOCM coordination efforts such as data catalogs andplanning registries by incorporating a broader group of regional and state partners (e.g.universities, Sea Grant and Integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associationsinto IOCM coordination.

• NOAA should continue to investigate new technologies and the capabilities of the privatesector for improving mapping efficiencies (e.g., autonomous mapping systems andvehicles, bathymetric and topographic LiDAR, etc).

Additionally, the panel was pleased to hear about NOAA's use of non-traditional data to assesschart adequacy, and the potential to use non-traditional data to better focus hydrographic surveyresources. It was good to hear that Coast Survey is partnering with the National GeophysicalData Center to create a database of bathymetry track lines from crowd-sourced data with the

International Hydrographic Organization. The panel also heard about NOAA's activepartnership with USAGE on topographic-bathymetric LiDAR data acquisition, the HSRP fullysupports this Integrated Mapping effort and commends both agencies on the coordinationaccomplished using the IOCM SeaSketch toolset.

Finally, the panel recommends that NOAA communicate to the Office of Management andBudget the importance of stable federal funding for NOAA's Physical Oceanographic Real TimeSystem (PORTS®), in order to ensure navigation safety and security for the nation. We heardagain the oft-repeated request from numerous users groups (e.g. local emergency responders,USDHS/FEMA, USAGE, USCG, the NWS, universities, recreational boaters, ecologists, portmanagers, and pilots) in attendance for full funding for the NY/NJ PORTS system. The speakersmade clear that the PORTS installations serve a much broader user group than just commercialshipping. Because the funding structure for each PORTS system is so challenging, the concernis that several valuable PORTS installations may be removed within the next two years.

On a side note, I would like to report that one of our panel members, Scott Perkins, had theopportunity to testify at the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Coast Guard andMaritime Transportation Hearing on "Finding Your Way: The Future of Federal NavigationPrograms." He testified along with Rear Admiral Glang, DFO, and Dr. Larry Mayer of theUniversity of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. USAGE and USCGrepresentatives also provided testimony. We appreciated the opportunity for one of our panelmembers to testify before this subcommittee.

To close, the panel greatly appreciated the participation of senior-level NOAA leadership at thisNew York meeting, and we look forward to your attendance at a future meeting. Please considerstrongly the panel's recommendations as you plan for NOAA's budget and mission for 2015 andbeyond.

Sincerely,

W&foMatthew Wellslager

cc: Dr. Holly A. Bamford, Assistant Administrator, NOAA National Ocean ServiceDr. Russell Callender, Deputy Assistant Administrator, NOAA National Ocean Service